TwitHive: A Heavyweight Web-Based Twitter Client

TwitHive is a Web-based Twitter app that allows you to manage your followers, view profiles, add groups, and scroll through columns of tweets all inside your preferred Web browser, without the need to download or install anything.

Twitterers: If you're looking for the power of an app such as TweetDeck, but you can't or don't want to download anything, TwitHive may be able to help. It's a Web-based Twitter service that allows you to manage your followers, view profiles, add groups, and scroll through columns of tweets, all inside your preferred Web browser, without the need to download or install anything.

You may be surprised how many people still use the Twitter Web page to
update their stream or read what their friends have to say. Even though
there are a number of great Twitter desktop clients, including TweetDeck, Twhirl, DestroyTwitter, and Seesmic Desktop,
for some the Web interface is perfect. If you're looking to use the Web
to stay on top of Twitter but need a little more power than the Twitter
site can offer, TwitHive gives you some of the power
and flexibility of TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop without the need to
download anything.

TwitHive doesn't need fancy plug-ins or application frameworks, and you don't have to download and install anything to use it. It runs completely in JavaScript, and works in just about every Web browser. You do have to give the site your Twitter credentials to use it, but once you do you have access to a world of features. You can manage multiple Twitter accounts at the same time, and you can set up multiple columns for different types of tweets, much like TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop.

For example, if you want a "home" column that just features all of the people you're following, you can create that. TwitHive has some other default columns that it can easily create based on the messages posted by the people you follow, including all tweets with URLs in them, retweets only, and conversations where the people you're following send replies to one another.

You can add any or remove any of the default groups, or create your own groups based on specific users you'd like to read. For example, a number of the people I follow are PC Mag editors and writers, so it's helpful to give them their own column so I have one place to go for tech news and opinion. A lot of the other people I follow are World of Warcraft players, and they can get chatty so it's good to give them a column to keep my home screen uncluttered.

TwitHive is definitely in beta and it shows sometimes. The app was occasionally slow, a little buggy, and it's missing a number of features that make Twitter clients so attractive, like URL shortening and image uploads. I don't think I'd trade my favorite desktop Twitter client for it, but the fact that it's entirely on the Web may interest people who are using an underpowered computer or a computer where they can't install software.